With the advance of desktop publishing software, computer users increasingly are able to create complicated documents that require high-end printing and finishing services not found on printers designed for home and office use. For example, a user may desire to print large format documents, high-resolution color documents, bound documents, etc., which are beyond the capabilities of the user's home or office printer. In addition, a user may desire to print a large number of copies of a document, which would be slow and expensive if printed on the user's home or office printer. Users are currently forced to take these high-end and high-quantity document orders to commercial print houses for printing on advanced printers designed for high-speed, high-quality commercial use. Usually, the document is saved on a CD ROM or other portable storage medium, and shipped or carried to the commercial print house for processing. This process is slow and tedious and results in increased document production costs.
It would be desirable to provide a convenient system and method for accessing and using a commercial print service from a user's local home or office computer.